WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman called Saturday for a Democratic debate in Flint to draw attention to the water crisis there.

Hillary for America Campaign Chairman John Podesta called the crisis of high levels of lead being found in residents' tap water "unconscionable" and that government must address it appropriately.

"It’s been going on for years, as the people of Flint repeatedly asked for help and were ignored by state government" Podesta said. "As Hillary has said, this would not have happened in a wealthy community."

He didn't mention or propose a specific date for the debate. But Podesta noted that the Clinton campaign has already agreed to debate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire next week ahead of that state's primary and is in talks about other debates.

“We think one of them should be in Flint," said Podesta. "We should use the spotlight of the presidential campaign to keep the focus on Flint, and to lift up the historic underlying issues that Flint and too many other predominantly low-income communities of color across America are struggling with every day."

"We want their voices to be heard in this campaign, and holding a debate in Flint would go a long way toward achieving that goal," he added.

Sanders' campaign said it would agree to what it said was a previously offered debate March 3 in Michigan ahead of the March 8 primary but only if Clinton's campaign accepts an April 14 debate in Brooklyn, New York. The two campaigns have been dickering in recent days over the possibility of adding more debates.

Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state and U.S. senator, has been vocal about the situation in Flint, talking with the city's mayor and saying earlier this month that there is "no excuse for what’s happening."

At a Democratic debate two weeks ago, Clinton said she had spent "a lot of time ... being outraged by what’s happening in Flint."

"We had a city in the United States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways and majority African American, has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water and the governor in that state acted as though he didn’t really care,” Clinton said. “He had a request for help that he basically stonewalled. I’ll tell you what, if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would have been action.”

Sanders, Clinton's top rival for the Democratic nomination, added at that debate that he thought Snyder had acted "irresponsibly" and should resign.

Snyder's communications team responded at that time through his Twitter account, saying "Political statements and finger pointing from political candidates only distract from solving the Flint water crisis.”

Contact Todd Spangler at 703-854-8947 or at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.